New Chandigarh, Oct 4 (IANS) West Indies head coach Daren Sammy lavishly praised captain Shai Hope’s exceptional leadership after the skipper produced a match-winning, unbeaten 162 to lead the visitors to a historic 352-run chase against India in the third and final ODI of the series.
Hope, who spent all 50 overs behind the stumps during India’s innings before opening the batting in place of an injured Jewel Andrew, anchored the record-breaking pursuit to hand West Indies a memorable victory by carrying his bat throughout the chase at the new PCA Stadium.
“He was in the field for what, 98.2 overs. He literally took the team on his back today with the bat, like he’s done so many times before. The skipper stepping up is not anything new to him, but to keep 50 overs and then put on your pads and go and play an innings like that was special,” Sammy was quoted as saying by the ICC on Sunday.
The head coach felt also Hope’s contributions to West Indies cricket often do not receive the recognition they deserve. “He doesn’t really say much. But when he speaks, he’s quite clear as to what he’s expecting from himself and from the group. As I said, he leads by his performance. He believes in that.
“Like, somebody had to go up and open, and when I said to him (to open), he didn’t say a word. He just put on his pads, went out, and won us the game. I don’t think he gets enough credit for what he’s done for West Indies, how he’s played, and the commitment he’s given us. Class player, great individual,” he added.
Highlighting the broader takeaways from the series ahead of 2027 Men’s ODI World Cup, though the West Indies might have to take the qualifiers route, Sammy felt there were a lot of positives to take from a batting perspective.
“We came here knowing the quality that India has and to measure ourselves against a team like that. We showed that when we do things consistently well for long enough, we could match the number one team in the world. We will take a lot of learning from this.
“Even with a batter short, we knew what we’ve been talking in the dressing room about: batsmen scoring hundreds and batting deep. Putting on partnerships, not losing wickets in clusters. Once we did that, we had a very strong chance of winning. It’s such a tough place to defend. You’ve got to be confident that whatever the opposition gets on the surface, you can get it too,” concluded Sammy.
–IANS
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